REM staff reduce metabolic age by 37 years via wellbeing programme

Real Estate Management (UK) (REM) has helped its 45 employees, based in offices at The Shard in London, reduce their metabolic age, a measurement of metabolic efficiency, by a total of 37 years, using a wellness challenge and follow-up programme, spanning eight months until November 2019.

The SuperWellness Challenge, which forms part of REM’s ovearching health and wellbeing strategy, began in April 2019 with a monthly nutritional challenge that lasted for four months, and with follow-up sessions going on until November 2019.

The programme included group coaching, body composition testing, and mindfulness workshops covering topics such as healthy meal planning, sleep, food for the mind, and nutrition for musculoskeletal health; it was run by a team of qualified nutritionists from wellbeing provider SuperWellness.

These experts conducted monthly body composition testing and provided employees with reports on key metrics such as body fat, muscle mass, weight, visceral fat rating and metabolic age. They were also on hand to give personalised nutritional guidance, in the form of both group and personal one-to-one sessions.

The final follow-up session in November 2019 focused on nutrition tips for reducing health risk factors. The session looked at key modifiable risk factors, including smoking, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, obesity and unhealthy body composition and unhealthy diet, along with practical advice and coaching to reduce them.

Employees were encouraged to take part the SuperWellness Challenge with regular email reminders and posters displayed around the office. More than half of employees (51%) attended at least two sessions, if not the whole programme, with most other employees attending at least one session.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of those who took part say their health stayed as good or improved after the challenge.

In July 2019, immediately after the challenge, the total weight lost by staff was 22.4kg, average metabolic age reduction was 1.2 years, at a total of 32 years across the group, and fat mass was reduced by 1.2kg on average per person.

In November, when further statistics were measured, although progress had slowed, staff had reduced their metabolic age by a further 5 years overall, and had lost an additional 19.2kg of weight

Matt Peaty, head of health and safety at REM, said: “It is really rewarding to experience our [employees’] awareness and commitment to planning, and then adopting, a healthier lifestyle. To demonstrate that we now have, essentially, a biometrically younger group of employees than we had at the start of this project, it is a significant KPI that we are very proud of.

“Sustainability of the healthier lifestyles has been evidenced over the last few months, which was the overall objective of our health and wellbeing strategy for 2019.’’